The state funding for the Georgia War Veterans Home in Milledgeville is “woefully inadequate,” according to a Georgia Department of Veterans Service official.
Russell Feagin, health director for the department that oversees the state’s two veterans homes, said as much during a Georgia Senate study committee meeting on veterans’ mental health and housing held Wednesday in the legislative chamber of the Old Capitol Building on the GMC campus.
Formed in February of this year, the five-member committee evaluates the adequacy of public and private mental health and housing services available to Georgia’s military veterans. Information presented Wednesday said that there are around 700 homeless veterans in the state. The number is possibly higher, but an accurate count can be difficult to pin down.
The committee is chaired by Dalton Republican Sen. Chuck Payne. He’s joined by state Sens. Rick Williams (R-Milledgeville), Ed Harbison (R-Columbus), Josh McLaurin (D-Atlanta), and Shawn Still (R-Norcross). Through the study, the body is empowered to use the information gathered to make recommendations for proposed legislation to address any shortfalls that may be found. According to its establishing language, the study committee will be abolished Dec. 1 of this year.
Wednesday was the committee’s third meeting and its first in Milledgeville. Payne and Williams attended in person while McLaurin attended virtually to give the committee its quorum. Members first heard from Mighty Hero Homes, a fairly new nonprofit whose mission it is to build neighborhoods specifically for veterans.
In his turn at the microphone, Feagin was quick to point out that not all veterans coming off of serving are capable of maintaining their own home and returning to regular daily life. Georgia has its two veterans nursing facilities in Milledgeville and Augusta to support some of them. Together they can house just shy of 500 patients, Milledgeville at 294 and Augusta at 192.
Of the 294 beds at the local Georgia War Veterans Home, 125 are occupied, per Feagin. A little more than 70 empty beds are in either newly-renovated or newly-built buildings that are referred to as sub-acute therapy units for veterans suffering from mental health issues such as alcohol/narcotic substance abuse and schizophrenia that cannot be treated at the facility currently. Feagin said as many as 23% of veterans who served in recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq are suffering from traumatic brain injury, which can lead to PTSD and depression that could be treated in the new units.
Those sub-acute units are empty due to the lack of funding to hire the skilled healthcare professionals needed to provide care, the director shared.
Operations over the Milledgeville veterans home have for nearly three decades been bid out to contract by the state. Georgia-based PruittHealth held the contract until last year. Feagin said the company was asking for $5 million to run the home at the basic level and $10 million for the expansion to the sub-acute units.
“We could not get them down to the appropriate rate to what we had for our state budget,” Feagin said. “We ended up having to go into an emergency acceptance of another vendor.”
In stepped Virginia-based STG International, a contractor that has built, staffed and run community-based outpatient clinics for the federal government. Almost exactly one year in, Feagin said STG International is operating the local veterans home at a financial loss.
“The funding for that vendor is woefully inadequate,” he added.
“The state of Georgia has not increased the funding in Milledgeville in 10 years,” Feagin said.
He said there was actually a reduction in funding of $1 million three or four years ago.
“That has not been restored, so the state of Georgia is paying one million [fewer] dollars to operate the home in Milledgeville than they were 10 years ago. Nobody is operating at that level now.”
Committee Chair Payne said the state is trying to pick up the ball where the federal level is falling short of its promises made. Feagin responded saying the federal government has increased its portion in recent years. Patient fees have gone up as well.
The veterans home is funded through a combination of state appropriations, federal funds and patient fees.
So the sub-acute unit beds sit vacant while the state conducts a study to see what it can do to combat the homeless veteran problem.
Williams said there’s “no excuse” for the completed units, which both state and federal funds paid for, to sit vacant.
“Not blaming you,” Williams told Feagin. “There’s no excuse. We cannot find the funds to open that up and get treatment for these people. We’ve got to find a solution.”
Committee members in attendance were scheduled to visit the local Georgia War Veterans Home after their meeting Wednesday to get a firsthand look at the facility.
